Belly Post - 26 Weeks

Inside my belly this week...

The network of nerves in your baby's ears is better developed and more sensitive than before. She may now be able to hear both your voice and your partner's as you chat with each other. She's inhaling and exhaling small amounts of amniotic fluid, which is essential for the development of her lungs. These so-called breathing movements are also good practice for when she's born and takes that first gulp of air. And she's continuing to put on baby fat. She now weighs about a pound and two-thirds and measures 14 inches (an English hothouse cucumber) from head to heel.

- From Babycenter.com

Brantley Rae,

Today is Halloween! Last night, I talked Daddy into painting this pumpkin on my shirt and it turned out pretty good! Daddy can be so artsy when he wants to be. hehe! We won't be dressing up and going to any Halloween parties because we don't want to and I don't want to get sick.

Tomorrow is our first Baby Shower. I'm so excited! Bebe and her mom, Miss Bobbie, are hosting the shower for all our family in the Montgomery/Prattville area. I can't wait to see all the wonderful gifts that we'll get tomorrow. It's going to be great!!

I'm so amazed at how big you're getting so quickly! Over a pound and longer than a foot. Crazy and Awesome!! We only have about 14 more weeks to go and then you will get to come out and meet Mommy and Daddy for real and all the other people that love you so much. We are all very anxious to meet you, little girl!

We love you very much, sweet girl!!

Love,

Mommy (and Daddy)

Red Reversible Dress

This is the adorable red dress I made this afternoon. It's actually reversible so BR will get lots of wear out of it. That is only if she stays in this size range long enough. (0-3 months)

I still have to sew the buttons on tomorrow but I couldn't wait to share this one.

I'm picturing Brantley wearing cream tights and a cream long sleeve shirt with tiny black shoes to church one Sunday. So excited!!

Pink Seersucker Dress

This is the finished dress from Saturday. Last night I appliqued this flower on and added the sequins for a sparkly touch. I love the way it turned out!

Also, yesterday I went to Hancock Fabrics and bought some more fabric so that I can continue sewing adorable outfits for BR. I'll post those as I finish them because I'm just so darn proud of my new found skills. My Granny would be proud of me too!

I hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Oh and by the way.... Check out our baby ticker.
Only 100 days (or so) until Brantley Rae will be born!
Holy Cow, I'm so excited!!

Pictures In The Gardens

Yesterday, Chase and I met Kearstyn and Ashley at Botanical Gardens to take a few pictures with them. Our friend, Brittany, was there to take Kiki's 3 year old pictures. Ashley decided she wanted Kiki's "Aunts"/her closest friends to be there so we could get a few pictures wither her.
We had such a beautiful day and we had a great time!

Kiki is so much fun!

Sweet girl giving Brantley Rae kisses!! Adorable!!

Aunt Allison and Kearstyn

Aunt Jami and Kearstyn

Kearstyn Hailee

While Chase and I waited on everyone to get there we walked around. Chase took a few pretty good pictures of me for my 25 week pictures.

Look how much we're growing!

We had a wonderful afternoon being outside in the gorgeous weather with friends and nature. It was a great was to spend our Sunday afternoon.

These are the pictures that Chase and I took but you can check out Brittany's work at BG Photography.com. Look under children!

Pumpkins In The Park

Yesterday, after church our Sunday school met at Homewood park for lunch and pumpkin carving.

These are the classes pumpkins.

Chase and I are having fun really getting to know the other couples in our class.
We have wonderful teachers as well and they make the class really fun and enjoyable.

Only a few more days till Halloween! Have you carved your pumpkin?

Belly Post - 25 Weeks

Inside my belly this week...
Head to heels, your baby now measures about 13 1/2 inches. Her weight — a pound and a half — isn't much more than an average rutabaga, but she's beginning to exchange her long, lean look for some baby fat. As she does, her wrinkled skin will begin to smooth out and she'll start to look more and more like a newborn. She's also growing more hair — and if you could see it, you'd now be able to discern its color and texture.

Brantley Rae,

This weekend has been really great at our house. Yesterday, I made you a totally cute pink dress that you are going to look really cute in! You won't get to wear it until this time next year but I'm going to make you some smaller ones soon.
Tonight, Daddy and I went over to Nona and PopPop's house and picked up the dressers for your bedroom. Yay!! Now Mommy gets to start decorating and putting things in their place. We still have to attach the doors and all the hardware but at least they are here and in your room. I'm so happy!!
You've been going through spurts of being awake and asleep daily now. You're really starting to get bigger and stronger. Last night was also the first night that you kept me awake with all you kicking and such. I wasn't very happy about it at the time because Mommy was so tired but it also makes me happy because I know you're growing.
This week I'm going to work in your nursery, putting a things in place and making it look better, instead of so cluttered. I'm also hoping to make you another dress or two. Mommy is really excited about sewing dresses for you! Maybe one day I'll try something a little harder but for now I'm sticking with the easy pattern.
Well sweet girl, your Daddy and I love you very much and pray for you everyday, that you are growing into a healthy and happy baby girl. Only about 15 more weeks in my tummy and then we will get to meet you. We can't wait!!!
We love you, Brantley Rae!
-Mommy

Boredom turned Beautiful!!

This afternoon I got REALLY bored. So Chase told me to go buy stuff to sew something so I could try out my new sewing machine. So...
Today turned out to be a WONDERFUL day all because of this dress.
I MADE IT!!!!
With my own two hands and my new handy dandy sewing machine.
I am so happy with it that I could jump up and down if I was allowed to, but BR might not like that very much.

It's pink seersucker and I LOVE IT!! It's a 6-9 month size so it will be a while before BR gets to wear it but that's okay. I'm going to make many more in different sizes and fabrics. From now on I think I'm going to make them out of two different fabrics/reversible so that we can get more wear out of the dresses.

Right now it doesn't have anything on the front but I'm thinking about appliqueing a flower on the top middle or either one of these monograms. I like them both very very much!!

I'm SO proud of myself!!

Yay! Now I can rest knowing that I accomplished something SUPER CUTE today.
I'll be a "sewing machine" from now on, cranking out dresses like crazy. BR is going to have the cutest dresses!!!

I hope everyone's having a good night!!

Babymoon/My Birthday

Last week, my parents gave Chase and I a one nights stay at Gorham's Bluff up in north Alabama for our Babymoon and my birthday. We left fairly early on Saturday morning to head up north. We stopped in Guntersville to eat lunch at Wintzell's. Turns out they were the only people open that afternoon for lunch. It was good!

After lunch we drove over to Little River Canyon. It was VERY cold and wet outside, but it was nice to see the water running so much. Pretty!

This is the lodge at Gorham's Bluff.
It was so nice inside! There is a dining room and living room areas on the bottom floor and rooms on the top two floors. It was very peaceful and relaxing there! Chase and I sat in our room before dinner, watching a movie, reading pregnancy books and watching Brantley Rae moving all over my belly! It was pretty cute!

The view was beautiful on Sunday morning!

We took pictures on the Bluff Sunday morning when it was around 35 degrees. The wind was really blowing so I stayed out there as long as I could. But BR and I got cold pretty quickly and we had to go back inside.

This is us watching the Auburn game down stairs waiting for our dinner time. We ate dinner, breakfast and boxed lunch there and the food was wonderful! I had an aversion to the ham that I ordered for breakfast but I think it was just pregnancy related.

After lunch on Sunday, since it was my birthday I decided I wanted us to go to a Pumpkin Patch. we found one called Down On The Farm in Rainsville, AL.
It was such a cool place!

They had a HUGE pumpkin patch that Chase and I got to walk all around to find our 2 pumpkins. So fun!

This is an old corn combine that they have turned into a playground. It looked like the kids were having lots of fun playing on it!

This is the CORN PIT!! It was SO cool!! The pit is about a foot or more deep with corn kernels. The kids that were playing in it were having a blast. I'm hoping that next year someone, maybe Ashley's husband Heath, will make a Corn Pit here so that Chase and I can take BR to play in it. AR, BR and all the other kiddies would have so much fun!!!!!

Finally, when we got home we had dinner with Chase's parents at their house. I was so excited to open my birthday present from them because I got a SEWING MACHINE!! I've been wanting one for a while now so I'm really happy about it. I've already sewed on a few burp clothes for BR that turned out really cute! Maybe this week I'll get to work on some more projects and I'll try to take pictures and share my work.

Overall, I had a wonderful birthday and WE had a great Babymoon! Thanks, Mom and Dad!!

I hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!!!

MIA

Sorry I've been MIA for almost a week. I have so much to blog but I'll have to catch up this weekend. I hope everyone has had a good week!
Sorry so short but it's time for this pregnant Momma to go to sleep.
Night Night!!

Happy Birthday, PopPop!! (a.k.a. My Dad)

Last night, Chase and I went to Jim N' Nick's for my Dad's birthday dinner. His actual birthday was on Tuesday but we had to postpone dinner to last night. Of course, my parents were there and also my brother (Brett), his wife (Mary Ellen) and my niece, Alyssa got to come as well.

I hate that I didn't take any other picture of my Dad but there he is blowing out his birthday candles.
We all had a great time socializing and just spending time together. Alyssa is adorable and so smart! She is going to be 4 in about a month and I can hardly believe it.

Look at that PRECIOUS face!! She is amazing and I LOVE HER!!
(Check out those new specs I got yesterday!)

Anyways, Dad had a good birthday and he gets to go fishing this weekend with one of his good friends. Have fun PopPop!!

Happy Birthday, Dad! I love you!!

Belly Post - 24 Weeks

Inside my belly this week...
Your baby's growing steadily, having gained about 4 ounces since last week. That puts her at just over a pound. Since she's almost a foot long, she cuts a pretty lean figure at this point, but her body is filling out proportionally and she'll soon start to plump up. Her brain is also growing quickly now, and her taste buds are continuing to develop. Her lungs are developing "branches" of the respiratory "tree" as well as cells that produce surfactant, a substance that will help her air sacs inflate once she hits the outside world. Her skin is still thin and translucent, but that will start to change soon.
-From Babycenter.com

Brantley Rae,

This has been Mommy's first week as a SAH wife and mom. What did you think? I enjoyed it quite a lot and you seemed just fine with it. On Tuesday, you were very active pretty much all day. It was a wonderful feeling for me!
I pray everyday that you're growing into a healthy little girl and that God is protecting you from any harmful things that Mommy may come in contact with. I helped PopPop paint your furniture this week and it looks great! We kept fans on in the basement so hopefully you didn't notice the paint. Mommy loves you very much and wants you to be safe always!
Daddy's, Aunt Della finished your bumpers for your crib and I put them in there yesterday afternoon. They're SO adorable! I hope you end up liking them as much as Daddy and I do. We picked out the fabric a long time ago and I'm happy to see it in your room finally. Thanks, Aunt Della!
Mommy has a big birthday coming up this weekend...I'm going to be 25! Yikes! Daddy and I are getting to do something special but I'll fill everyone else in on that later. We're going to have a great time!
Anyways, it's pretty early and I'm getting sleepy again. I think I'll go crawl back in bed and try to catch some more Z's. Please don't kick me and keep me awake any longer. Please rest so I can!
We love you, little girl!!
~Mommy and Daddy

Nursery Update - Oct. 11th

I made this Butterfly picture out of colored buttons last night. I'm not sure where we're going to hang it in the room yet, but I think it turned out pretty cute!!
I got my inspiration from Pottery Barn. I actually like mine much more and it didn't cost me $100. :0)

Add a caption

I made this Butterfly picture out of colored buttons last night. I'm not sure where we're going to hang it in the room yet, but I think it turned out pretty cute!!

These are the adorable valances that Chase's, Aunt Della, made for Brantley Rae's nursery. They turned out SOOO cute!!!!
Thank you Della!!

They are so cute!!
This is what the bumper pads look like. Some adjustments are being made on the side bumpers so for now I only have the ends. They are so CUTE! I love them!!

Hopefully, Chase is going to get to pick up the side bumpers from Aunt Della later this week. I can't wait to get it all put together and the furniture in the room. It's going to be great!!!

Belly Post - 23 Weeks

Inside my belly this week...
Turn on the radio and sway to the music. With her sense of movement well developed by now, your baby can feel you dance. And now that she's more than 11 inches long and weighs just over a pound (about as much as a large mango), you may be able to see her squirm underneath your clothes. Blood vessels in her lungs are developing to prepare for breathing, and the sounds that your baby's increasingly keen ears pick up are preparing her for entry into the outside world. Loud noises that become familiar now — such as your dog barking or the roar of the vacuum cleaner — probably won't faze her when she hears them outside the womb.

Brantley,

You've been moving around so much this week. Actually, last night while I was waiting for dinner to be ready, you gave me the biggest kick that I've felt so far. You actually scared me and it kinda hurt a little. I yelled out and Daddy got worried, but I told him it was just you getting stronger. It's okay, keep growing!
Mommy's last day of work was yesterday. I won't be working full time again for a long time. It'll be you, me and Marley at the house during the day for a while from now on. Yay!! I'm so excited I'll get to stay at home with you once you're born.
Daddy and I are going to Nana and PopPop's house today to work on your furniture so more. I am really anxious to get it into your room so I can start putting things in place.
Daddy and I love you very much! Only about 117 more days little girl!!
Love you,
Mommy

This is just another picture of me and the letters for Brantley's name. We're going to move them up about a foot and then find something to hang above her name. Hopefully, it will turn out like I see it in my head.

Sunflower on my Belly

This afternoon, Chase and I went to Ava Reese's 1st Birthday party. I'm a horrible friend because I didn't get my camera out and take any pictures of the birthday girl herself. Her Mommy will be posting about her party in the next day or so. Check in and look how cute everything turned out.

The theme of the party was a Fall Festival. It was held at the neighborhood park. There was a hay ride, scarecrow mask coloring, cookie decorating and of course face painting. Ashley's step-mom, Jill, was the artist. She asked me if she could paint my belly and by the end of the party I decided I wanted to let her. I chose a sunflower!

Chase took pictures on my phone while we were at the party but I took these two once we got home.

I think Jill did a really good job!

I'm going to copy Beth in a couple of weeks and paint a my belly like a Jack-o-lantern. I'm pretty excited about that one! It will be really cute to see my belly painted as a pumpkin. Yay!

Anyways, I hope everyone has had a great Sunday!

Happy 1st Birthday, Ava Reese!!

Belly Post - 22 Weeks

This week I am 22 weeks. Of course I'm so happy to be getting further along in my pregnancy. I've really started to feel BR moving more and more everyday. I love it!
The color of her room in the picture looks totally gross. I promise it's not really a nasty pea green color!

Here is what is going on inside my belly this week...
At 11 inches (the length of a spaghetti squash) and almost 1 pound, your baby is starting to look like a miniature newborn. Her lips, eyelids, and eyebrows are becoming more distinct, and she's even developing tiny tooth buds beneath her gums. Her eyes have formed, but her irises (the colored part of the eye) still lack pigment. If you could see inside the womb, you'd be able to spot the fine hair (lanugo) that covers her body and the deep wrinkles on her skin, which she'll sport until she adds a padding of fat to fill them in. Inside her belly, her pancreas — essential for the production of some important hormones — is developing steadily.

Brantley,

I am loving the fact that you're growing and getting stronger. I like when I can just sit back and feel you moving around. I'm hoping that means you're happy in there. :0) Today, I went to some yard sales and bought you a few more seriously cute outfits. They will be totally adorable on you next summer. I also got us a GREAT diaper bag! It's by Petunia Pickle Bottom. It's brand new and only $15. Yay! Mommy got a deal!!
After yard saleing, I went over to Granddaddy and Bebe's house to spray paint the letters for your name that we're going to hang on the wall. They turned out so cute! Of course, I painted them PINK!! Daddy we'll have to hang the letters up one day when we get all the furniture put in your room.
Well, I guess that's all for today. I love you very much and I can't wait to meet you in a couple more months.
I love you! (and so does Daddy)
-Mommy

This is her name painted in PINK!!
Her name is going to be above her bed like this but actually up a foot or so.
I can't wait to see the nursery all put together. It's going to be so cute! Or at least the vision in my head is adorable!